Straun , You worte : >So what are we left with of SOM? Just a vague sense of everything that is >disliked, a mythical 'mythos' (if you will forgive the expression) ascribed >to almost everyone, and to be hunted down and conquered, but, at every turn >is seen to be as insubstantial as a castle in the sand. We have a catch-all >'rage against the machine' metaphysics which is all things to all men, >capable of almost any interpretation and the domain of the intellectual >misfit who is not sure why they don't fit. The observation that we as >subjects relate to other things as objects is accurate and good, but let us >not pervert that truth into nonsense, please. Bobby : The observation that we as subjects (or Selfs) relate to other things (not Self) as objects is accurate and true but how "good" it is should be the focus of inquiry and Pirsig has shown that this mode of perception has huge limitations when we inquire into the nature of Reality for the purpose of inquiring into morals. However there is no denying that this is the primary mode of perception of all living beings and is indispensible for survival and even creativity . Pirsigs shortcoming has been that he has not given due recoginition to this fact and the reason i presume is that he has tried to attack this TENDENCY of scientists and intellectuals to label SUBJECTIVE or TRASH all experiences that cannot be verified by every Tom, Dick and Harry at any time or place of their choosing. The experience that i am talking about here is the transcendence of the primary mode of perception of Self- NotSelf to a mode of perception in which the distinction between Self and Not Self dissolves.This experience is the sought after experience in all Eastern cultures where a person motivated enough spends almost a lifetime to accomplish. This motivation is totally lacking in western culture for what reasons i am not sure of. Perhaps as a teacher of Philosophy you might have heard of Buddhists mention 'Enlightenment' or 'Satori' Your phrase 'rage against the machine' should actually be modified to 'rage against the MAN-MACHINE'.I believe you do understand the distinction. Yes , MOQ is a possible metaphysics by which this MAN-MACHINE just might be defeated, although the chances are negligible. The victory of this MAN-MACHINE will also mean the end of this World although i am sure you will vehemently disagree. Any how you do have a talent for criticism and MOQ can certainly do with occasional doses of that. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/ MD Queries - [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at: http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
